M’kay… here’s another tea I got in the Whole foods bulk bin here in San francisco. I was pretty excited to try this! I’ve had a few yunnan teas but I don’t think a golden needle has been one of them. These are very fine dark golden buds…

I decided to steep this in the Tetsubin for 4 minutes with boiling water. That may have been a bit too much however, next time I think I will try for 3 because I ended up with a bit more tannins than I wanted. It is very malty and chocolatey with a nice touch of sweetness/starch at the end, kind of like a banana or a sweet potato. I did end up adding a touch of soymilk but I drink most of my blacks this way. I’d also like to try this out with shorter steeps in the gaiwan but it is really yummy! A great choice for the morning.